Mrs. Morgan's Blog

AP Lang 8/29 - 9/2

Well - how did making those vocab cards go?  I really think we'll be better off with having everyone having the same definitions for week 1 - having said that, it's worth mentioning that you should have week 2 words defined by THIS FRIDAY (9/2).  Okay, let's get this show on the road!  Also, you need to start looking around for a copy of EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE - that's going to be our first book this year - so ... get your copy NOW!

Mon (8/29)
** first things first - we'll discuss vocabulary and how the quiz will be handled.  By the way - it will be tomorrow.
** Next you'll get your essay for the discussion panels this week.  You should re-read and re-annotate this essay before you come to class tomorrow.  In other words, be ready to discuss it with others in your group!

Tue (8/30)
** first things first ... we'll do the vocab quiz - the rest of the class will be spent with the essays -
** Most of today is all about working with your essay and your group - I'll answer any and all questions you have, but tomorrow is P-day... yep, that means panel day! 

Wed, Thur, Fri (8/31 - 9/2)
** Panel discussions each day - we'll determine the order discussion on Tuesday by random draw.
** FRIDAY ONLY: go over vocab week 2 - your quiz will be on TUESDAY 9/5

Enjoy the long weekend!  But, while you do that, do two things for AP Lang... 1. locate a copy of EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE for yourself and 2. study for vocab week 2 ... please do not forget that part of that means reviewing week 1 words for the old word!

H Brit Lit 8/29 - 9/2

Hey guys!  How did you like the first vocab unit - pretty easy, huh?  I don't want you thinking that you'll be taking the easy MC quizzes that some of you took last year - you won't be ... since there are only 10 words per week (at least this semester), you'll need to become an expect on each of the words!  Trust me... it'll be fun! :)

It's time to either check out or get your copy of BEOWULF - Wednesday is the day!

Mon (8/29)
** First of all, I'll have to collect vocab if you didn't finish it up on Friday -
** Today you'll get your first set of Portfolio Prompts - DO NOT delay getting started with the first one as it is due on FRIDAY!  Here's a copy of the handout in case you need it:

Download Writing Portfolios

** I know that you started your worksheet on "The Wanderer" on Friday, but honestly, that was a bit out of the order I wanted to do things in - don't stress - we'll come back to it, probably tomorrow or Wednesday, but first I want to do a bit of A/S literature background - If you want to review the power points I go over in class today you may view them here:

Download Anglo-Saxon bkgr

Download Anglo-Saxon Lit

Tue (8/30)
** Today we'll be getting back to "The Wanderer" - I hope you will enjoy listening to it - I think it is good to hear poetry read aloud - it often leads to a deeper understanding - we'll use the rest of "The Wanderer" handout today.
** After we finish up with the  poem we'll be taking a look at the vocab unit and talking about the format of the quiz - we'll have it either FRIDAY, September 2nd, or TUESDAY, September 6th.

Wed (8/31)
** It's finally here!  Yes, that's right- BEOWULF DAY!!! I love this poem - it gets a bad name but, I think after you get going you'll have to agree with me - Beowulf is actually the first super-hero! Basically, he's awesome!

Thur (9/1)
** DO NOT FORGET... it's OPEN HOUSE TONIGHT!
** We'll finally be getting started with Beowulf!  You'll be annotating for some specific things, looking at some questions to help you with the reading... all kinds of things to make sure you understand the story of the poem.

Fri (9/2)
** I'm sure some of you are more focused on tonight's first HOME FOOTBALL GAME and the PEP RALLY instead of BEOWULF, but you'll just have to focus in for HBL!
** Depending on your vote, we'll either be rolling along in or taking your first vocabulary quiz!

I hope to see your family at Open House

Hello everyone!

I hope you're getting settled into AP LANGUAGE or HONORS BRITISH LITERATURE by now - learning what to expect, what my routines are, basically I hope you're getting all the keys you need to succeed!

Do you know what this Thursday is?  I'll bet some of you do - it's OPEN HOUSE!  Yes, that's right - it's time for your mom and/or dad to come to Lassiter and experience the crowds in the hall that you navigate successfully every day!  =) I hope you will invite them to come and meet all your teachers - it's a good thing!  SO, tell your parents that LHS is the place to be THURSDAY NIGHT AT 6:30! 

I'm looking forward to meeting your families!

AP Lang 8/22 -2/26

Hello everybody!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that you're ready to hit the ground running! We're going to do some wrap-up activities with DWC this week and get ready for our Panel Discussions of the summer essays (that's next week!).

Mon - Tue  (8/22- 8/23)
** The first thing we're going to do today is go get our text books - that little field trip shouldn't take too long, but please have your student ID, either your temporary one or the one you got last year -
** Then we've got to talk about Olmsted a bit - NONE of you guys even mentioned him in your discussions last Friday - I was surprised to say the least ... so -- I've got to throw some credit to the poor guy... by the way did you know that Larson almost made him the central White City person?  (I know, you're glad he didn't - you're tired of hearing about his sore teeth).
** Next we're going to look at a bit of documentary stuff - Now I know that most of you automatically get a glazed look in your eye - that staring off into space look when you just HEAR the word documentary.  Well, I hope that AP Lang will change your mind on that!  On a side note, did you know that a popular textbook for this class is called EVERYTHING'S AN ARGUMENT?  Take a second and think about that - what argument do documentaries make? (Sorta makes you say, duh, right?) Well, we'll look at a few documentaries this year to help you see how diction and syntax shape EVERY argument whether it's visual OR written - you'll learn a lot - seriously!  BUT, I digress - back to THIS documentary....  We're going to look at parts of two DVDs - the first one (we'll see a good bit of this one) is called H.H. HOLMES: AMERICA'S FIRST SERIAL KILLER - consider this director's presentation of H³ - how does it differ from Larson's picture of him?  Which is more accurate?  How can you make that call? Yes ... THAT's the stuff of this class!
** EXPO - MAGIC OF THE WHITE CITY - this is a great piece for you guys to get a real feel for what the White CIty was really like - between this and the book of photographs I'm going to show you I think your appreciation for Burnham will increase!

Wed - Thur (8/24 - 8/25)
** Yep, it's poetry day today - I make note of it because we don't really do poetry in AP Lang - this poem is special, though - it's called "Underside" and, to my way of thinking, it really sums up what this class is all about - I hope you'll like it and I hope you'll enjoy the activities we do with it - and, when we're done we'll finally have our bulletin board!  You'll see that I'm serious when I say it's not your parents' language anymore!  And, the best thing about this assignment?  Well, as far as your parents are concerned, anyway- you will have to TALK to them! Yes, really have a conversation with them, to do your homework :)

Fri (8/26)
** Today we'll discuss how to be successful with the panel discussion next week - I'll give you all the requirements.
** We'll also go over vocabulary week 1 - Monday will be your very first vocab quiz!  Are you psyched?  Yes, I thought you would be :)

H Brit Lit 8/22 - 8/26

Hey guys!  I hope that you all had a great week one!  I know it sure seemed like a long week, but I think we'll all get back into the swing of things soon.  I know we didn't finish the Y1000 presentations last week, so obviously, that will have to be first on our agenda.

Mon (8/22)
** I really hope we can finish up the Y1000 month presentations today - I also hope you guys will take my advice (is advice really the right word? lecture, maybe?) about your presenting and work habits to heart - if you do listen to these words of wisdom, I can assure you a smoother year and an easier transition into AP Language next year.  I also know that sometimes you are confident you know best... I just hope you wake up and smell the coffee sooner rather than later....  Okay, enough of that!  Like I said, I really, really hope we'll finish up the presentations today.
** You'll need to bring Y1000 to class with you each day until I tell you otherwise - we'll be using it to do some in-class writing.

Tue (8/23)
** IF we've finished presentations we'll be doing a Grammar Pre-test! WHOO HOO! Yes, things just keep getting better and better, don't they?? Actually, I don't think you'll find this to be too bad, and it's good prep for the PSAT/SAT, too! So, basically, we see it as a win-win.

Wed (8/24)
** Today is slated for the in-class write covering Y1000 - I plan for this to be a double quiz grade as well, so if you are worried about your month presentation, here is your chance to SHINE!

Thur (8/25)
** It's all about Anglo-Saxon literature today - you'll find out what sets the literary history of the A/S people apart from later generations - by the way - it's time to decide if you want your own copy of BEOWULF or if you want to check one out from me... if you get your own, you'll need highlighters, if you use mine, you'll need post-its (these will be for annotations)
** If time allows, we'll look at "The Wanderer" a most excellent example of A/S poetry.  It's one of my favorites! 

Fri (8/26)
** If all goes according to plan we'll be doing vocab unit one today - if all does NOT go according to plan we'll catch up the week and do vocab on Monday - either way, vocab is next on the agenda.

I hope you've had a great week 2, and I hope you are settling into being Sophomores now!  Have a lovely, restful weekend!

AP Lang 8/15 - 8/19

Welcome!  I am so excited about AP Lang this year!  We have really got some great things planned - I hope you'll like this course; I really believe it is the most unique English course we offer here at LHS - and, of course, it's the best, too! :)

Mon (8/15)
** Typical first day stuff, of course, there will be introductions to make, transcripts to check, and syllabi to review.  All fairly standard fare-
** It would be a good idea to begin reviewing the people of THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY.  You'll be working with them on Wednesday.
** On Friday (19th) you'll be turning in your annotated articles and the document you created (double spaced, please) analyzing each of them (You know, purpose, writer (persona), and style?).  Further, we'll be working with the vocab you were asked to define for DWC.  So, BE READY!

Tue (8/16)
** Now we're getting down to some real AP business!  You'll be doing some MC (always means multiple choice) questions - I believe that it's a good idea to see just where you stand with AP level questions at the beginning of the class - that way you know, realisticly, how hard you're going to have to work to get to the level you want to get to. It's worth mentioning that AP MC is always tough, so don't get TOO stressed out by the passages.
** Continue reviewing the people of DWC tonight.  And, you'll need your copy of DWC in class on THURSDAY!

Wed (8/17)
** Today is all about the people of DWC!
** Don't forget to bring your book to class tomorrow :)

Thur (8/18)
** Today you're going to be looking at Larson's style in DWC.
** You'll get a handout in class today with THREE discussion questions from DWC - make some notes about them tonight - our class discussion over them tomorrow will be a graded one for you.

Fri (8/19)
**First things first - I'll collect your annotated articles (yes, the actual articles) AND the work you did for them.
** Next we'll work with the DWC vocab, then we'll move into the three discussion questions you got yesterday.  You know, I've gotta say, I LOVE this book!  I hope you liked it -- I know you liked the H³ parts best (at least last year's kids did), but that Burnham stuff is pretty interesting, too!  Wait until you see the photos of the actual fair - I don't think you really realize how huge this was back in 1893... remember, it was "the greatest event in the history of our country since the Civil War."

Looking ahead:
Next week we're going to watch a dvd about H³ (see, we know you like that part best!) and a few parts of a dvd about The White City.  I hope you'll like both of these - I do, but then again, I like the Burnham parts of the book best...   After that we'll be looking at a poem, "Underside" which sort of sums up what we think AP Lang is all about.  We think you'll like it! :) We'll also discuss what vocab will look like in AP Lang this year. That got your attention, huh?  Well, stay tuned!

H Brit Lit 8/15 - 8/19

Welcome!  I hope you all had a wonderful summer and I also hope you all liked our summer reading selection, THE YEAR 1000.  I thought it was really interesting, and a fairly easy read, too - I hope you found the it to be the same :)  I especially liked how it is filled with little tidbits - I love the little facts that I'd normally never think about.  Okay, on with the first week!

Mon (8/15)
** This will be a typical first day of school class - we'll introduce ourselves, look at the syllabus, I'll look at your transcripts, all that normal stuff - the one thing that WON'T be like every other class you'll have all day is that you'll get your partner for the VERY FIRST PROJECT OF THE YEAR!  Yep, that's right - we're going to hit the ground running.  You'll even have a little homework tonight (yes, I know... you're shocked by that) - you'll need to re-read the chapter for the your month of the Julius Work Calendar.
** It's probably worth mentioning here that this project will be the first official HBL work I see from you - you should be careful to make the impression that you want to make, do you know what I mean?

Need the handout and link?  Here it is! :)

Download Partner project

Tue and Wed (8/16 - 8/17)
** You and your partner will have time in class for these two days to plan your presentation and create your calendar page - at the end of each day you WILL BE REQUIRED to submit a progress update to me and you'll have to tell me your research topic BEFORE THE END OF CLASS ON TUESDAY (once a topic is taken, no other group can use it) - I'll be watching your progress, but I want to see how you evaluate yourself.  On Tuesday night you should do the bulk of the research required for your presentation so that you and your partner will have the most time to plan everything (or get a new plan if necessary).  Remember - I'll be very happy to suggest research topics that would be appropriate for your month.

Thur (8/18)
** You will have TEN (10) minutes with your partner to put any and all finishing touches on your calendar page and presentation.  ALL written work, for every single group (yes, even if you are not sharing today) is DUE AT THE END OF THE TEN MINUTE GROUP TIME.
** We'll begin with group one - the only folks to not have a real month, we'll hear all about the calendar and the English spirit, then we'll start with January and move ahead.  I would anticipate getting through at least June and probably July today.

Fri (8/19)
** We'll finish up the Calendar presentations today - I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys took from the book - you know,  honestly, I thought THE YEAR 1000 was a pretty interesting little read :) Even if you didn't like it you're happy it was short, right?

Preview for next week:
1.  We'll be doing some baseline evaluations on your grammar and writing skills, and then we'll get straight into our Anglo-Saxon study :)  Which reminds me - you need to decide if you want to buy a copy of BEOWULF or if you want to check one out - we have loads to check out to you, but if you are a "write in the book" kind of student (like me!) then you'll need to get your own - if you DO decide to get one, please, please, please make sure you get the Burton Raffel version (and :) do NOT even think of mentioning that ridiculous movie to me...).  Oh, and yes - I know that BEOWULF is a free kindle download, but it's not the right translation - it won't work, sorry -- I agree, free is best, but this time it won't work.

Well, you made it to the end of your first week of school!  How'd you do?  Are you going to have to sleep all weekend to catch up?  I hope you'll all just relax and enjoy the year!

WELCOME!

Hello everyone!! I want to welcome you to my class, either AP Language or Honors British Literature -- both classes have so many wonderful works to read, such excellent vocabulary to master, and, of course, writing skills to polish!  So, I hope you got all rested up during your holiday break, because we've got a lot to do in here!

You can "sort" the blog to see only AP Language or Honors British Literature (select your class name - in the left margin). But if you decide not to sort, you should know that each week AP will appear first on the blog followed by HBL - so, you Honors Brit Lit-ers will have to scroll down just a bit :)  I cannot suggest strongly enough that you remember to USE THE BLOG... most everything is  here, and sometimes there are even extra things here, too!

I hope you will never hesitate to ask me questions, stop by for help, or email any concerns -- I really, truly want you to be successful in my room -- let me know if you ever need anything.

=) B. Morgan